On a spaceship that suddenly starts to go down, two twins named Vash and Nai manage to escape through one of the pods while their caretaker Rem stays behind. Some unspecified time later on the planet Noman's Land, two reporters named Meryl Stryfe and Roberto de Niro are on a job to get a scoop on the man known as the "Humanoid Typhoon". After their car breaks down, the two stumble upon a man who seems to align with the descriptions of said walking disaster.
Tropes that appear in this episode:
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Once Vash aims his gun towards the falling missiles and realizes he has no ammo, he proceeds to cry and beg the townsfolk for ammunition.
- Blatant Lies: Vash asks Rem why the ship's AI has declared they're in free fall, and Rem reassures him that it's only overreacting. Once the escape pod launches, it's clear the AI was, if anything, understating the crisis; the entire fleet is going down. At Jeneora Rock, Vash tries to play off him saving the town as pure dumb luck, wondering if he should hit up some casinos when he leaves. Meryl and Roberto don't buy this lie one bit.
- Dissonant Serenity: Nai looks all too calm as Rem walks them towards the escape pods, whereas Vash is holding onto Rem's hand in fright and panic. Even when he offers Rem his hand to join them in their escape pod, he still looks undisturbed by all of the explosions and alarms, Foreshadowing that he's responsible for what's happening.
- Dodge the Bullet: Vash dodges all of Chuck Lee's shots at point blank range without even flinching, another hint that Vash is more than he lets on.
- Dramatic Irony: Getting annoyed at Roberto's cynicism, Meryl tells him she'll be running the news station at July in no time. Anyone who knows the source material for Trigun knows she'd better work her way up fast - or better yet, not bother, because July gets wiped off the map before the story's over.
- Evil Laugh: Vash puts on a show of cackling evilly towards Meryl and Roberto, but once the two start to leave after finding him too creepy, he drops the act and begs to be untied. Nai does it with feeling in the flashback at the end of the episode, laughing gleefully as the ships fall, crash and burn.
- Futile Hand Reach: As Nai roughly throws his brother into his seat, Vash reaches out towards Rem one last time as their escape pod ejects them from the ship.
- Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: Meryl is ambitious and eager to get a scoop for their paper on the Humanoid Typhoon, while Roberto tiredly waxes on how desolate life on Noman's Land is and the aggravation of being stuck watching a newbie.
- The Glomp: Upon seeing his mother figure, Vash immediately runs up and jumps to give her a hug.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Rem chooses to stay behind to try and save the rest of the sleeping humans on the ship, forgoing a chance to escape with her boys.
- He Went That Way: Instead of turning Vash over to the July police, Meryl points them in the opposite direction, claiming he went that way. She wants her scoop from Vash before turning him in — or, potentially, clearing his name.
- Hidden Depths: Roberto is surprised to find that Vash knows a lot about Plants and asks if he's an engineer. Vash simply responds he shouldn't judge a book by its cover.
- Hope Spot: When Vash asks him about how dumb this duel business is, Captain Chuck Lee seems to see reason and throws away his gun. Vash's relieved smile quickly falls when the captain pulls out a missile launcher, as he accidentally convinced him a spectacle is better than a duel.
- Improvised Scatter Shot: Running out of time, Vash grabs some rock from the ground beneath him, tosses it into the air and then fires a single bullet, causing the debris to scatter and hit all of the falling rockets.
- Negated Moment of Awesome: Vash squares off to shoot the missiles as a Dramatic Wind blows. He whips out his gun in slow motion, takes aim...and is surprised to find it's out of bullets. Then he starts wailing.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Vash allows himself to be dragged and pulled around by Meryl after she ties him up. Once the group make it to Jeneora Rock, Vash playfully shows he could have untied himself at any time. Even when he tries to play off him saving the town as a lucky shot, Roberto and Meryl don't buy it.
- Orange/Blue Contrast: The first scene features young Vash visiting Ship Five's crew in the bright, cool blue cryostasis room. A dark reflection of this appears in the episode's last flashback, when Vash watches Nai rejoice as orange-burning ships and stasis pods light up the dark night.
- Pre-Sacrifice Final Goodbye: After Nai offers for Rem to join him and Vash, Rem instead cries as she tells the twins how happy she was raising them before ejecting them to safety.
- Pun: In the dub Vash jokingly asks "Need a hand?" after Meryl accidentally pulls off his prosthetic arm for a handshake. When the two reporters decide to walk away from Vash he wails, "Don't leave me hanging, friends!" Roberto reacts to the sight of the dangling bodies with an arch declaration of "Dead ahead."
- The Reveal: A short flashback to the Big Fall reveals that Nai, Vash's twin brother, was the one who orchestrated the crash, and he cackles madly over his work.
- Say My Name: Vash practically screams himself hoarse calling for Rem as their escape pod flies them away from the exploding ship.
- Side Bet: The July soldiers place bets on who will win the duel. Vash gets $$5,000 and Chuck Lee gets $$10,000.
- Struggling Single Mother: Rosa is a single mother raising her son Tonis, has another baby on the way and kicked her lazy husband out of her life. Her town is in dire need of a new Plant that they can't afford, and she hopes Vash can fix the Plant like he did last time.
- Tap on the Head: Vash hits Chuck Lee in the back of the neck to knock him out so he can figure out how to stop the missiles coming down.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Vash pretends to put on a cheerful front to the people of Jeneora Rock, but a close up on his face shows how much he really doesn't want to fight Captain Chuck Lee.
- Throwing the Fight: Chuck Lee demands Vash draw his gun so they can duel, but Vash continues to refuse to even put his hand near his weapon. It's only when Chuck Lee pulls out his missile launcher and fires a cluster bomb that might wipe out the town that Vash finally decides to draw his gun.
- Unwilling Suspension: How Meryl and Roberto first find Vash: tied up and hanging upside down next to other corpses strung up by the Bad Lads Gang.
